Google unveils Nexus 7 tablet, available for immediate pre-order

Google kicked off its three day I/O event at the Moscone Center today with several announcements, the most significant of which may well be a 7-inch Android-based tablet named the Nexus 7. Built by Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Asus and offered at a price of just US$199 for the 8 GB storage model, the Nexus 7 is already available for pre-order for consumers based in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Details are still pouring in, but Google has stated that the Nexus 7 will be the first tablet to ship with the newest iteration of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which contains apps such as Gmail, YouTube, Google+ and the Chrome browser. On the hardware side, Google's slate boasts 1 GB RAM and a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, plus some other goodies like NFC, GPS, a gyroscope and an accelerometer.

Here's the full run-down of the specs:

Display and camera

7" 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)

Back-lit IPS display

Scratch-resistant Corning glass

1.2MP front-facing camera

Memory and CPU

8 GB or 16GB internal storage

1 GB RAM

Quad-core Tegra 3 processor

Connectivity

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth

Micro USB

Battery

4325 mAh (providing a reported 8 hours of active use)

Dimensions and weight

198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm (7.8 x 4.7 x 0.41 in)

340g (11.9 oz)

Features

Microphone

NFC (Android Beam)

Accelerometer

GPS

Magnetometer

Gyroscope

Pricing for the Nexus 7 starts at just $199 for the base 8 GB model and $249 for the larger 16 GB storage version, with $25 of Google Play credit thrown in for good measure. Orders are open now in the Google Play store for residents of the US, UK, Canada and Australia, with a reported shipping estimate of mid-July.